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Wedge is patient as young club improves

Wedge is patient as young club improves

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Kyle Seager

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SEATTLE -- Eric Wedge wants to make one thing clear: The Major League Baseball season is 162 games.

And that doesn't change yearly.

"I know everybody gets frustrated, but we're what, 30 games in or whatever it is?" the Mariners manager said. "We've got a long way to go; we've got 132 games left. At some point and time in this world of ours, people are going to understand that we play this game 162 games every year. I know it's hard for people to understand, but we don't like to switch back from 100 games one year, 162 games the next. It's every year we play 162 games, it's six months, we play every day."

After a seven-game losing streak that brought frustrations to a season-high, the Mariners hope they've finally righted the ship. But Wedge knows two straight wins doesn't mean his young team is done with the ups and downs.

"You have to be patient. ... The other day we started seven guys that are 25 or under, or something like that," Wedge said. "It's hard up here, and I'm going to defend these guys 'til the end because I trust them and I believe in them.

"And you know what? They're going to get better, and they are getting better. It never happens on your timetable or my timetable, but it is going to happen. And it's happening right in front of you, but most of you just don't understand."

Perhaps the best example of the progress can be seen in Kyle Seager, who started 2011 in Double-A and ended up with the big league club. The 24-year-old infielder has 10 RBIs in his past five games and is hitting .359 (14-for-39) in his last 11 games, while cementing himself in the fifth spot in the lineup.

"You see a lot of good things, and a lot that this young man has gone through in all of his 2 1/2 months, three months in the big leagues," Wedge said. "I think he's a smart player. I think that the aptitude's there, and he's confident."